Connector anchors, commonly referred to as “E-Tracks” are used in various applications, such as in the cargo transportation industry. The connector anchors secure cargo to a transporting vehicle surface (e.g., a side, floor or roof of a container, truck hold, load bed, dolly, or other cargo areas) by flexible strapping (e.g., webs, belts or the like) attached to industry standard buckle clips. In one specific application, the strapping or straps are used for holding one or more cargo objects so they will not shift or move during transportation and cause damage or loss by either striking sides of the transporting vehicle, container or other objects. Such connector anchors are typically mounted to the transporting vehicle, such as trucks, railroad cars, airplanes and shipping containers.
In a typical application, multiple connector anchors are mounted to the transporting vehicle. Each of the connector anchors includes a series of apertures.
Each aperture may receive the complementary industry standard buckle clip. The buckle clip is attached to the strapping, webbing, rope or chain or is attached to a tie down anchor point for connection with securement hardware attached to strapping, rope or chain. The strapping is routed to secure the cargo in a desired or needed manner. The buckle clip is secured to an aperture of a connector anchor. The strapping can then be tightened (e.g., via ratchet, winch, turn buckle, etc.) to secure the cargo.
Connector anchors have apertures that are generally rectangular and have a major opening dimension and a relatively smaller minor opening dimension. The buckle clip has complementary dimensions so that the buckle clip interfaces with the respective aperture in a specific orientation. Within a connector anchor having multiple apertures, all of the apertures are oriented in the same direction. Thus, for a connector anchor with multiple apertures, the apertures are all orientated in the same direction. For example, the rectangular apertures are all aligned in a spaced parallel orientation pattern. Accordingly, the buckle clip that mates with an aperture of the connector anchor must be oriented to conform to the direction or orientation of the aperture in the particular connector anchor. This mismatch of orientation between the buckle clip and aperture can lead to excessive twist and stress in the strapping, webbing, rope, chain or securement hardware.
For some applications, multiple connector anchors are used that have different aperture orientation. This adds material and labor cost to install additional connector anchors. Thus, it is desired to provide an improved connector anchor that does not suffer from these and other disadvantages.